Meet Wally

I would like to introduce you to the newest member of our family: Waldemar Thorncreek Otho Baggins, or Wally, for short. Wally is a 13-month-old Bernese Mountain Dog that we rescued from a family who couldn’t care for him the way he deserved. Wally is one of the sweetest dogs I’ve ever met (and as a dog person, I’ve met plenty). He is eager to please, quick to learn and is very people-oriented. He loves to be around us and one of their breed traits is to sit on their owners feet and lean against their legs. I could easily live in Montana as long as Wally was willing to serve as a portable foot warmer. In addition to humans, he gets along great with our more senior lab/retriever, Tyke. They play well and even share sticks.

Wally is a bit of an awkward creature, which means I understand him well. He’s currently 85 pounds, but when finished growing will be in the 110-120 pound range. He has no idea how lanky his legs or how big his paws are which means he is continuously tripping over himself. Or tripping over nothing and just falling over. Yup, it’s happened. And as a Berner, he’s been bred to pull heavy things in farming communities, which means that even with P90X my 125 pound frame offers little resistance when he is interested in something. Part of the problem is, he makes me laugh all the time. So whether he’s playing with his brother, tripping over himself, trying to be a lap dog, or eating (he lays down to eat!), I absolutely adore our new addition.